Sharing the trial and error learned lessons of a MS spouse caregiver / carer about family, home care, and transition to the care facility era from 23 years of living with Multiple Sclerosis as a family ... a ‘warts and all’ picture of living with MS.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Caregiving: parents & teachers

Recently Patti and I attended parent teacher conferences. Frankly I use these conferences mainly as an opportunity for Patti to meet our daughter's teachers, 'see' the school and classrooms. 'Back to School Nights' are just too chaotic.

Logistics of building size and elevator keys complicate movement between class rooms. Conferences are best because MS symptoms require the teacher to be closer than 3 ft to be seen and conversation and processing information is "different" than in a group format. Even in a brief 15 minute conference Patti's attention span begins to drift after 5 minutes.

What was incredulous this final "Senior Year" was that we met a teacher who was "like our daughter" This teacher grew up with a mother severely disabled with MS.

In fact, it was the first time we ever met any teacher who had any family member with MS. (or come to think of it, any direct knowledge of "living with MS", that is before meeting us <grin>)

When I stop to think about 12 years of school plus pre-school and all those teachers and staff, it is sobering the uniqueness of "living with MS."

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